Friday, April 5, 2013

"LAURA INGALLS WILDER" A PIONEERING MUSICAL

On the seventh of February in the year 1867, a baby girl was born in a
log cabin in Wisconsin whose adventurous spirit would soon find her
traveling westward. In a covered wagon, Laura Ingalls ventured with her
family from there to Minnesota and Iowa and finally
the Dakota Territory. She captured her childhood and those pioneering
days in a series of stories known as the Little House Books.To meet Laura, a spunky Annie Lutz, her daring pa Charles played by
Richard Chagnon, her devoted mother Caroline portrayed byJackie Ostick
and her older sister Mary and difficult friend Nellie Owens, both
brought to life by Haley Greenstein, plan to travel
to the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook.This delightful musical about this beloved frontier girl and her
ambitious family will be performed for one show only, Sunday, April 14
at 3 p.m. For tickets ($10 child, $16 adult), call The Kate, 300 Main
Street, Old Saybrook at 877-503-1286 or online at
www.katharinehepburntheater.org.For almost three decades, ArtsPower, a theatrical troupe devoted to
children's programming using Equity actors, has had a mission to
entertain, stimulate and educate. To that end, they have produced
thirty shows, adapting good children's literature into plays
and musicals, performing 750 productions every year. To date, they have
entertained 12 million people in almost every state. Some of their
titles include "Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel," "Harry the Dirty
Dog," "Anne of Green Gables" and "My Heart in
a Suitcase."As artistic director and resident playwright, Greg Gunning is
responsible for much of the material, writing the book and lyrics, while
Richard DeRosa composes the music. The final members of this
establishment are the co-founders Gary and Mark Blackman.In this story about Laura, the goal was to show how she came to write
her stories, with a target audience of 10-12 year olds, to inspire kids
to say "I could do that" (write their own stories) or say "I have to
read that book." The team tries to tie the story
to the school curriculum, in this case how the pioneering spirit and
movement west can be illustrated in literature, history and the arts.Another bonus with Laura's tale is its popularity as a television show,
Michael Landon's "Little House on the Prairie" series which has a
universal appeal and is remembered fondly. "Both children and adults can
relate to and by moved by a tomboy and how she
becomes one of America's most famous writers." Laura and her folks'
pioneering zeal is both "scary and exciting" The musical shows how her
attitude toward education and being home schooled changed when her older
sister Mary goes blind and tells Laura "You
have to describe the world to me."The intriguing musical score includes such tunes as the adventures
traveling by covered wagon in "Move On" as they try to find a new home,
the tall tales about whose fish is bigger, sung by Laura and Pa, in
"Fishin' " and the poignant ballad "Seein' Things
I Never Saw Before" as Laura becomes Mary's eyes and lets her
imagination run wild and free. Come meet Pa's "half-pint of sweet cider."For Greg Gunning, it has been an "interesting journey" at ArtsPower,
combining his two loves: writing and directing. When Gary and Mark
Blackman first contacted him thirty years ago he knew early on it was a
"sure partnership." Just like his protagonist
Laura, he also "wants to see what's over the next hill." He, too, is
ready to pack his bags and move on to new adventures, with only two
major changes: while Laura went west, Greg went east to New York and
instead of Laura's rumbling wagon, Greg travels by
747. Both are clearly destined to conquer new frontiers.Greg Gunning's latest frontier is the show "Jigsaw Jones, Boy Detective"
while he has his eyes pealed on his next possible writing venture "The
Monster Who Ate My Peas." All vegetarians beware.